June 11, 2014 - Airbus confirms that Emirates
Airline has decided to cancel its order of 70
A350 XWB aircraft. The decision follows on-going
discussions with the airline in light of their
fleet requirement review, as demonstrated by
their order of 50 additional A380 at the last
Dubai Airshow and their continuous interest in
the program.

Airbus and Emirates Airline benefit from a
long-standing relationship and the airline
recently reiterated its confidence in Airbus
products particularly by praising the A380 and
the benefits the aircraft brings to their
operations.

The order of 50 A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 was
originally placed by Emirates Airline in 2007
with first delivery slots scheduled from 2019.
However, at last years Dubai Air Show Emirates
announced it had ordered 150 of Boeing's 777X
aircraft. The A350 long-range jet is a
competitor to Boeing's 777 and 787 Dreamliner
planes.

Airbus reports they are confident in its A350
XWB program. Half a year before entry into
service, the A350 XWB order book stands at a
healthy 742 firm orders. The A350 flight test
campaign is progressing well and is on track for
Type Certification in the coming months.

Interest in the game changing A350 has always
been very high with customers. Airbus expects
the A350 order book to continue growing in 2014.
But investors took the Emirates news poorly, as
Airbus shares closing down more than 3% in Paris
and jet engine maker Rolls-Royce shares fell
more than 5% in London.

Edison Investment Research analyst, Sash Tusa
said the move by Emirates was real blow to
Airbus, "with the loss of a 70 A350 wide-body
plane order coming just as rival Boeing's 777X
has been launched. It gives the unavoidable
conclusion that the world's largest and most
influential long-haul airline sees the 777X as
the wide-bodied twin of the future.”